Nathan Ake in action for the Netherlands Chelsea are expected to have the option of re-signing Nathan Ake once the defender completes a switch to Bournemouth.The 22-year-old Holland international was recalled from loan at Bournemouth in January by Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte.But now the Chelsea boss is willing to accede to Ake’s request to play regularly, with the Cherries hoping to complete a deal.The fee for Ake, who can play in central defence, at left-back or midfield, is reportedly £20million and includes a buy-back clause.Premier League champions Chelsea have learnt from the sales of a host of young talent in recent seasons by inserting options to recapture young players.Bertrand Traore last week moved to Lyon for £10million, but there is a contract provision for Chelsea to re-sign the Burkina Faso international at a later date if they wish to do so.Striker Tammy Abraham is anticipated to be moving to Swansea on a season-long loan, once the England Under-21 striker has signed a new contract to commit to Chelsea.The Blues are likely to wait to announce any incoming players in the summer transfer market, with Willy Caballero set to be the first arrival after the window opens on Saturday.Caballero, who is to be released from Manchester City this week, is to be back-up goalkeeper to Thibaut Courtois. 1read more

Most of the scientists involved in SETI research are very antagonistic to Intelligent Design. Nevertheless, they find the design inference perfectly “natural” when looking for ways to comb through natural phenomena for intelligently-designed signals. Two new methods for detecting alien messages were reported by Science News in the Oct. 11 issue.1 Both involve teasing intelligent causes out of patterns of neutrinos instead of tuning into the celestial radio dial. One method involves Cepheid variable stars. The regular pulsing of these stars could be altered by aliens if they could send beams of neutrinos into their cores. If timed just right, the well-known period-luminosity relation would be altered. The target star would stand out because its predicted pulsation rate and amplitude would appear artificially modulated. Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute likes this idea of “star tickling” –If it could work, then this is an answer to one way to build an omnidirectional beacon. It would be an example of an ‘almost natural’ signal that would get captured in a survey of the universe by an emerging technology, that’s us, and finally recognized in a database by some curious grad student.The method has a couple of drawbacks. It would require an “incredibly advanced civilization to be able to do this.” Another drawback is the low message content. Only the barest hint of intelligent design would be detectable. Still, the message would beam out in all directions and thereby reduce the luck factor of finding the needle in the cosmic haystack. Another method aliens could use would be to send a coded message of dots and dashes with neutrino beams. Since neutrinos are broadband, the detector would not have to know the transmission frequency. An alien civilization might reach us from 20 light years if they could generate the 100-trillion electron volts necessary. Even then, our state-of-the-art neutrino detectors might only find 7 to 10 muons per year. If we missed some dots and dashes we might not know it was a message, but at least we could tell where they were coming from. Both these methods rely on inferring design in natural phenomena. The aliens would not be transmitting on a spiritual wavelength. They would be modulating existing natural phenomena with the intent to convey a message. SETI researchers feel comfortable with the idea that detecting design in these venues is a proper scientific endeavor. The article includes a picture of the woman astronomer who discovered the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variables, Henrietta Swan Leavitt (see our bio). This law opened up astronomy to measurement of distant objects.1. Ron Cowen, “With a twinkle, pulsating stars could deliver signals from ET,” Science News 174:8 (Oct 11, 2008), p. 5-6.SETI researchers still do not get it. They employ exactly the types of scientific reasoning used by the Intelligent Design community to justify the design inference as scientific. ID claims that intelligent causes can be separated from natural causes by means of a design filter – design is the last-resort inference when chance and natural law have been ruled out. Would not the SETI people do the same? In fact, they would probably work hard to rule out natural law first. They would see whether an altered Cepheid belongs to a new class of naturally pulsating stars. Natural law would probably be their default hypothesis. The astrophysicists would go to work on theories to explain the Cepheids that don’t fit the current theory. Only as a last resort would the improbable hypothesis of an intelligent cause be considered. The same is true for the neutrino beams. Even so, this article makes it clear that SETI researchers would feel justified in inferring intelligence from natural phenomena. So do forensic scientists, cryptographers, and archaeologists. There is nothing new, really, in the ID approach. People have employed ID reasoning ever since ancient Sumer and beyond. ID just formalized the logic behind the way we separate intelligent causes from natural causes. The identity of the designer is not the question. A coroner may have no clue who the murderer was when deciding a crime victim did not die of natural causes. A cryptanalyst may not be able to read the message or know its purpose when determining that a string of bits is too improbable to have originated by chance. The reasoning is the same in any field where design principles are used: whether studying the contours of a possible stone tool, the marks on a cliff in an unknown language, or the information content in DNA. The ID Movement is really a call for fairness. What’s good for SETI should be good for biology. SETI has no recourse in counter-claiming that the aliens evolved by natural causes. You can’t tell anything about the aliens from the content of their message. Even if they were to tell us they evolved, how could we know they were telling the truth? Jill Tarter would have no way to tell that demons were not out there lying to her for the fun of watching her trip over herself on the way to the phone to tell the world she had found another case of the evolution of intelligence. Liars can be clever. “We are here to serve man,” their cookbook says. More likely, though, the whole world would just miss the message. This illustrates another important ID principle. The Design Filter can leak false negatives, but never false positives. A false negative means that something might be designed but we didn’t detect it. Modern art doesn’t look designed sometimes, and a murderer might have committed such a perfect crime that the coroner thinks it was a natural death. In the same way, could SETI know whether all Cepheid variables have been tweaked by aliens? No way. The aliens could be in cahoots. They could have a standard of tweaking Cepheids that misleads us novices on earth into thinking that the stars are just obeying a natural law. We would not see the design that is there: that’s a false negative. The Design Filter is impervious to false positives, however. If the stringent criteria for design are met, a scientist can be certain it was designed. Once natural law and chance are ruled out, and a match to an independently specified pattern is found, it clinches the case: the phenomenon was designed. ID has set the criteria so high, it’s overkill. ID’s standards are much higher than those stated in the Science News article. If it is fair for SETI to theoretically infer design from a few neutrinos, and if an archaeologist is allowed to infer design from a sharp-edged rock, and a court of law can convict a felon based on evidence that is beyond reasonable doubt, then all scientists should be willing to consider the overwhelming evidence for design in astronomy and biology. They should not rule out the design inference due to prejudice. Design detection is as neutral as an input in computer software passing a series of if-then statements. The identity of the designer is downstream from that decision node. (Visited 11 times, 1 visits today)FacebookTwitterPinterestSave分享0read more

19 March 2012 Cape Town and Table Mountain worked their magic on a group of journalists from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who visited the country last week as guests of Brand South Africa. The agency responsible for marketing South Africa abroad regularly brings groups of foreign journalists to the country to help build relationships and change perceptions of the continent. Fresh from an informative few days in Johannesburg, and keen to sample the famed delights of the Cape, the group had two days in the city to network, gather information and, of course, fit in some sightseeing. On day one, Tuesday 13 March, the weather in the morning was glorious – sunny blue skies, a light breeze and temperatures that Capetonians consider on the hot side – at least hot enough to hit the beach and dive into the cold ocean. Calling the Gulf states your home, though, means that 33 or so degrees is “comfortable”, in the words of Bahaa Alawam, a Syrian journalist working out of the Gulf.Gulf Co-operation Council He was joined by Mahmood Saberi of Gulf News, a Dubai publication; Peter Smith of Dubai Gulf Business; Hala Saqqa, a senior account executive at Hill and Knowlton Strategies in Dubai; and Roger Romanos, a senior editor at the Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group. The plan was to spend the morning at presentations indoors, with the Department of Trade and Industry. On the agenda were South Africa’s industrial policy, priority industry sectors, and Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) exports and agri-processing businesses that export to the UAE/GCC, namely Western Cape fruit and juice exporters, beef and fishing, fruit and vegetables, processed foods, and franchising. The next item on the itinerary was a trip on the cableway up Table Mountain. Cape Town’s weather, however, is nothing if not fickle. By noon the wind had picked up and by 1pm the clouds were cascading over the southern side of the mountain. By 2pm the cableway was closed for the day as the wind howled and clouds poured over the mountain and down the gorges. On the upside, the group did get to see her dressed in her famous tablecloth.‘It was beautiful, spectacular’ Instead of the planned trip, energetic tour guide Irwin Horsban of Kaylin Tours packed the group back into the bus and took them on a memorable drive down Kloof Nek and into Camps Bay, on the western side of the Cape peninsula. A stop for lunch and refreshments on the beachfront was a real treat, said Saberi. Romanos, who is originally from Lebanon but has been working in Saudi Arabia for six years, agreed. “What a fantastic place,” he gushed. “It was beautiful, spectacular.” On the way back to the hotel the ever-affable Horsban took the group on a detour through the Bo-Kaap, with colourful houses and history, followed by a splendid seafood dinner at the popular V&A Waterfront that was variously described as “good”, “delicious” and “expensive”. Wednesday – and Mother Nature came out to play, offering a glorious day without a breath of wind. Again, the morning was taken up with presentations and information-sharing, this time at the Oil and Gas Expo.Table Mountain’s 360° views The historic Robben Island was on the agenda for the afternoon, but everyone opted for the mountain instead. Walking on one of the new seven wonders of nature trumped heritage. The cableway was open, and cars were parked for several kilometres down the winding mountain road. But with tickets pre-booked online and a taxi ride to the cableway station there was little delay before the group was ushered into the large and airy cable car. The car takes 65 people at a time, which can be a bit of a squash. There is no need to hog the windows though, as the floor rotates during the ascent, giving each passenger a 360° view. Romanos spoke about investments. His company organises conferences between businesses, and he believes there is much scope for the two regions to work together. “Arab businesses are looking for opportunity,” he said. When the group stepped out at the top the views took their breath away, and they spent a good two hours wandering around, taking pictures and marvelling at the cute dassies, or rock hyraxes – the little animals are closely related to the elephant. “I am half-way between happy and depressed,” said Saqqa, “happy to be here, but depressed that soon I have to return to civilisation.” Her sentiments were shared by the other members of the group. Smith said: “I see Johannesburg is for business, but Cape Town is more for pleasure.” There was time for some cold refreshments before a walk on the white sands of Camp’s Bay beach and dinner at a traditional restaurant in the city bowl. “We are sad to go, but have enjoyed our time here,” said Alawam. First published by MediaClubSouthAfrica.com – get free high-resolution photos and professional feature articles from Brand South Africa’s media service.read more

Johannesburg, Wednesday 27 February 2019 – Brand South Africa is proud to collaborate with RapidLion Film Festival for the third consecutive year, taking place from the 1st to the – 10th of March 2019 at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. This follows a successful hosting of the Brand South Africa’s flagship programme, the Nation Brand Forum in 2018, where the role of film and the creative industries in shaping the Nation Brand was unpacked.This time Brand South Africa takes a different approach to engage with creatives in a research engagement to delve deeper in how the organisation and the creative industry can enhance its efforts to take film to the South African masses. From these engagements Brand South Africa will amalgamate lessons that can inform the organisation’s strategy and the profiling of the country brand in an impactful way.Speaking on the anticipated session, Brand South Africa’s General Manager for Research Dr Petrus De Kock said; “The creative industries play a major role in shaping the profile, presence, and reputation of the South African Nation Brand both domestically and globally. To this end we want to use this platform to engage with industry experts, gather insight from the creative industry.The session under the theme, “What to do to get cinema to South Africa’s masses?” will have panelists such as actor and director Hlomla Dandala, Kasi Movie Nights’ Producer Thapelo Mokoena who will engage in identifying tangible and sustainable opportunities for mass audiences to have access to cinema.“This is definitely one-way of utilising a positive brand image of the country that is influenced by its people, telling their own stories through the film industry. The RapidLion Film Festival is a perfect fit in promoting the reputation of South Africa.” adds Dr De Kock.This year’s festival will see the return of the RapidLion Awards Ceremony on Saturday, the 9th of March with several local and foreign films standing out. From South Africa will be such as Five Fingers for Marseilles (SA), Sew The Winter to My Skin (SA), Silent Winter China), Catching Feelings (SA), and the best of BRICS Films being nominated.Media wishing to attend the Brand South Africa session which will be led by L.K. Theatres can contact no later than 01 March 2019:Ntombi Ntanzi011 483 0122, ntombin@brandsouthafrica.com Tickets to the festival are available through www.webtickets.co.za //ENDS//About Brand South AfricaBrand South Africa is the official marketing agency of South Africa, with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation, in order to improve its global competitiveness. Its aim is also to promote pride and patriotism among South Africans, to contribute to nation building and social cohesion For more information visit www.brandsouthafrica.com About RapidLion- The South African International Film FestivalRapidLion recognises the achievements and excellence of filmmakers who are born in Africa, are members of the African diaspora and are citizens of BRICS countries. For more information, visit www.rapidlion.co.zaread more

John Lloyd Cruz a dashing guest at Vhong Navarro’s wedding UP clawed back from a 21 points down, 69-48, with Paul Desiderio capping off an 18-5 run that cut Adamson’s lead down to just eight, 74-66, with still five minutes left. The Falcons, however, responded with a 12-0 run near the end of the game to rebuild a 20-point lead, 86-66, with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter.FEATURED STORIESSPORTSWATCH: Drones light up sky in final leg of SEA Games torch runSPORTSSEA Games: Philippines picks up 1st win in men’s water poloSPORTSMalditas save PH from shutoutAnd as the Falcons secured their semifinals spot, head coach Franz Pumaren said they had already settled into the reality that they are one step closer to their title aspiration.“Our mentality is Final Four mode already,” said Pumaren. “During this stretch, every game is a learning process for us, a learning experience for us.” “In the time that we made run, I didn’t call a timeout, for me that’s one way of trusting my players, one way of making them feel that they should rise above the challenge.”Sarr led the way for the Fal ons with a 25-point, 17-rebound double-double while Jerie Pingoy had 15 points, eight assists, six steals, and zero turnovers.Desiderio led the Fighting Maroons with 20 points while Javi Gomez de Liaño had 10 points and 10 boards.ADVERTISEMENT Don’t miss out on the latest news and information. Stronger peso trims PH debt value to P7.9 trillion Typhoon Kammuri accelerates, gains strength en route to PH Brace for potentially devastating typhoon approaching PH – NDRRMC Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.netAdamson University locked up the third seed after withstanding a late fightback by University of the Philippines, 86-70, in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.The Soaring Falcons rose to 9-4 record while the Fighting Maroons dropped to fifth with a 5-7 record, a full game behind fourth seed Far Eastern University, which booted University of the East out earlier.ADVERTISEMENT Read Next LATEST STORIES QC cops nab robbery gang leader, cohort View comments CPP denies ‘Ka Diego’ arrest caused ‘mass panic’ among S. Tagalog NPA Tropical Depression ‘Quiel’ enters PAR PLAY LIST 03:47Tropical Depression ‘Quiel’ enters PAR00:50Trending Articles01:29DOH kicks off nationwide polio vaccination drive01:37Protesters burn down Iran consulate in Najaf01:47Panelo casts doubts on Robredo’s drug war ‘discoveries’01:29Police teams find crossbows, bows in HK university01:35Panelo suggests discounted SEA Games tickets for students02:49Robredo: True leaders perform well despite having ‘uninspiring’ boss02:42PH underwater hockey team aims to make waves in SEA Games MOST READ Japan ex-PM Nakasone who boosted ties with US dies at 101 For the complete collegiate sports coverage including scores, schedules and stories, visit Inquirer Varsity. Free tickets to Alab Pilipinas season opener Kammuri turning to super typhoon less likely but possible — Pagasaread more

Twitter/@BigTenNetworkThe first episode of Big Ten Network’s Hard Knocks-style documentary series about Ohio State football, Scarlet & Gray Days, premiered tonight, and it promises to be an incredibly fun look inside the defending national champions as we head towards the season. The episode highlighted a few players, including quarterback Cardale Jones, QB-turned-receiver and h-back Braxton Miller, and linebacker Josh Perry. Here are our five favorite moments from the pilot episode.1.) Josh Perry describes his Ronda Rousey-based beef with Cardale Jones:Cardale may have the shirt, but Perry has the photo. We expect this to be a recurring storyline.2.) Braxton Miller gets burgers and hot dogs, while Cardale Jones gets the first class meal:Lesson learned: even former Big Ten Players of the Year have to eat the worse meal if they oversleep before a workout.3.) Big brothers are chosen for Ohio State freshmen:Very cool, and funny look inside the process.4.) Cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs trash talks h-back Jalin Marshall:Every year when HBO does Hard Knocks, one of the assistant coaches is a breakout star. For Scarlet & Gray Days, it looks like Coombs will be that guy.5.) Urban Meyer coaches up Braxton Miller at wide receiver:Is there a more intriguing skill position player in the country right now?Overall, very fun first episode from Big Ten Network. This will certainly help us get through these long last few weeks before football officially begins.read more